This invention relates to an improvement in electroacoustic transducers that are used in instruments for forming images of an interior portion of the body of a patient from reflections of energy contained in pulses of acoustic waves of a carrier frequency F.sub.C transmitted into the body. Such transducers are commonly comprised of a plurality of rectilinear piezoelectric crystals mounted in spaced parallel relationship on the surface of an energy absorbing base. The pulses of acoustic waves are generated by applying driving pulses of voltage to the crystals so as to cause them to oscillate in a direction perpendicular to the base in what is known as the "thickness mode," and the image is formed in response to electrical signals produced by similar oscillations caused by the acoustic waves reflected to the crystals from a point in the body. Because the carotid artery or the heart of a baby are very close to the surface of the body, the formation of their images requires a system having a very small minimum range. Unfortunately, however, transducers constructed as briefly described above cause the minimum range to be much greater than desired. This is because of the slow decay in the large amplitude oscillations created in the crystals during the generation of each transmitted pulse, for as long as the amplitude of the oscillations is too large, it masks the relatively weak oscillations produced in the crystals by reflected acoustic pulses.
The driving pulses applied to a crystal also cause it to oscillate in a length mode. This oscillation is at a lower frequency F.sub.R than the carrier frequency F.sub.C and produces what is known as "Rayleigh" wave that travels along the surface of the base in opposite directions from the crystal. As the Rayleigh wave passes by the other crystals, it induces them to continue oscillating in the thickness mode at the frequency F.sub.C by mode conversion. Because of its low frequency, the Rayleigh wave is only slightly attenuated as it moves along the surface of the base so that the amplitude of the thickness mode oscillations induced in the crystals is fairly high. Furthermore, the Rayleigh wave travels along the surface of the base at a slow rate so that considerable time elapses before it reaches the crystal that is farthest away. The thickness mode oscillations induced by the Rayleigh waves produce other Rayleigh waves so that considerable time elapses before the amplitude of the resulting thickness mode oscillations gradually reduces to zero. During a portion of this time, the crystals oscillate in the thickness mode with such amplitude as to produce electrical signals that saturate the amplifiers and mask any desired signals that may be produced by reflected acoustic waves.